Chapter Sixteen : The Woman Who Survived
1682 Words
Elena
Elena stared at Lucien.
"Where did you take her?"
He didn't answer.
"Lucien."
His silence was unbearable.
She stepped backward.
"You said you found Camille."
"Yes."
"Alive."
"Yes."
"Then where is she?"
Lucien's jaw tightened.
"I don't know."
Elena laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
"You don't know?"
"I thought she was dead."
"You just told me she was alive."
"She was."
"Then where did she go?"
"I don't know."
"You were the last person to see her."
"Yes."
"And you never told me."
"I was trying to protect you."
"Stop saying that!"
Her voice echoed through the alley.
"Everyone uses that excuse."
Lucien looked at her helplessly.
"I didn't know who to trust."
"You could have trusted me."
"I couldn't."
The words hurt more than she expected.
"Why?"
"Because I was falling in love with you."
Elena went completely still.
Lucien looked away.
"And I knew that if the truth was as bad as I feared, you'd hate me."
---
Seven Years Earlier
Lucien remembered that night.
March 14, 2019.
He had been twenty-four.
Camille had called him at 11:17 p.m.
Her voice had been frightened.
"Come alone."
He had found her at Voss Memorial.
Blood covered her dress.
But she was alive.
Barely.
He had rushed toward her.
"Camille!"
She had grabbed his arm.
"Don't call anyone."
"You're hurt."
"I know."
"Who did this?"
Her eyes had filled with tears.
"Elena."
Lucien had frozen.
"What?"
"She was here."
"That's impossible."
"I saw her."
"Camille, Elena was seven years old."
"No."
She shook her head.
"Not the little girl."
Lucien had stared.
"What are you talking about?"
"The girl you're going to meet years from now."
He hadn't understood.
Camille had pressed something into his hand.
A small key.
"Don't give this to anyone."
"Why?"
"Because they are watching."
"Who?"
She looked toward the door.
"Your father."
Lucien's blood had run cold.
"My father is dead."
Camille had laughed weakly.
"No."
Then she had whispered:
"Alexander is alive."
A sound had come from the corridor.
Camille had pushed Lucien away.
"Go."
"I'm not leaving you."
"Please."
The door had opened.
A shadow had entered.
Lucien remembered reaching for his gun.
Then—
darkness.
When he woke, Camille was gone.
The room was empty.
No blood.
No body.
Only the key.
---
Elena
"You left her."
Lucien looked at Elena.
"I searched for her."
"For how long?"
"Seven years."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because every trail led back to you."
She stared at him.
"Back to me?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Every time I found evidence, your name appeared."
Elena's heart pounded.
"I don't understand."
"Neither do I."
He pulled out his phone.
"Look."
He showed her the files.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Bank transfers.
Surveillance reports.
Her name appeared repeatedly.
But there was something else.
A photograph.
Elena at seven.
Standing beside a woman.
Camille.
Elena stared.
"That's me."
"Yes."
"When was this taken?"
"March 14, 2009."
The same day she was supposedly born.
Elena shook her head.
"That's impossible."
Lucien zoomed in.
Behind them stood another person.
Alexander.
And beside him—
Seraphina.
Elena's breath caught.
All four were together.
On the day she was born.
"What were they doing?"
"I don't know."
"Then why do I have this?"
Lucien looked at the photograph.
"Because someone wanted you to find it."
---
The Key
Elena remembered the small key.
"The key Camille gave you."
Lucien took it from his pocket.
He had kept it for seven years.
A tiny brass key.
Engraved with one letter.
E.
"What does it open?"
"I don't know."
Elena took it.
The moment her fingers touched it, a memory exploded inside her mind.
A room.
A wooden box.
Camille kneeling in front of her.
"Elena, listen to me."
A child crying.
"When you're older, you'll understand."
Another voice.
"Give me the key."
Camille had hidden it inside the child's hand.
"Never."
Then a gunshot.
Elena gasped and dropped the key.
Lucien caught her.
"What did you see?"
"Camille."
"What happened?"
"She gave me this."
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Where?"
"A house."
"Which house?"
She closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
Then another image appeared.
A red door.
A white staircase.
And a symbol carved into the wall.
A Voss crest.
---
The Old House
They found the house two hours later.
It stood outside Veyra, hidden behind trees.
The red door was still there.
Lucien stared at it.
"I've never seen this place."
Elena touched the door.
"I have."
"You remember?"
"No."
She looked at the wall.
"The symbol."
The Voss crest had been carved into the stone.
Lucien opened the door.
Inside, everything was covered in dust.
But one room looked untouched.
A child's bedroom.
Elena entered slowly.
There were toys.
Photographs.
A small wooden bed.
And a name written above it.
ELENA.
She stared.
"This was my room."
Lucien looked around.
"Apparently."
On the wall were photographs of Elena growing up.
But not the childhood she remembered.
Different clothes.
Different house.
Different people.
A completely different life.
Elena touched one photograph.
She was smiling.
Beside her stood Camille.
And a young boy.
Elias.
Her twin.
Her heart tightened.
"Why were we together?"
Lucien didn't answer.
Then Elena noticed something.
The boy in the photograph wasn't wearing the black bracelet.
Instead, he wore a silver chain.
She looked closer.
The pendant on the chain was identical to hers.
"That's mine."
Lucien frowned.
"What?"
"The pendant."
She touched the one around her neck.
"Camille gave me this."
"No."
Elena looked at him.
"She didn't."
"What?"
"Look at the photograph."
Lucien did.
The pendant was already around Elena's neck.
Years before Camille supposedly gave it to her.
Elena whispered:
"Someone else gave it to me."
"Who?"
She looked at the photograph.
Then at the bedroom.
Her memory returned.
A man's voice.
Deep.
Gentle.
"My little girl."
She whispered:
"Alexander."
---
The Hidden Box
They searched the room.
Under the floorboards, Lucien found a wooden box.
The key fit perfectly.
Inside were documents.
Letters.
Photographs.
And a small cassette recorder.
Lucien pressed play.
Alexander's voice filled the room.
"Elena, if you're hearing this, you're old enough to know the truth."
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"You were born on March 14, 2009."
She held her breath.
"Your mother is Seraphina."
Elena closed her eyes.
Finally.
One truth.
"Camille was not your mother."
Her shoulders relaxed.
Then Alexander continued.
"But Camille loved you as if you were."
Elena cried silently.
"She agreed to help us because Augustus wanted you dead."
The recording crackled.
"Your brother Elias was taken before you were born."
Elena's heart broke.
"He was raised by people who wanted to use him against me."
A pause.
"I took you away because I thought I could protect you."
Lucien looked at Elena.
The recording continued.
"But I made one mistake."
Silence.
"I trusted Adrian."
Lucien's expression changed.
"What?"
Alexander's voice became quieter.
"Adrian was never my ally."
Elena stared at Lucien.
"He was working for Augustus from the beginning."
Lucien's blood ran cold.
The recording continued.
"He arranged Camille's death."
Elena gasped.
"And he was the reason you lost your memories."
The tape stopped.
Silence.
Lucien stood completely still.
"No."
Elena looked at him.
"What?"
"Adrian."
The man who had claimed to fight Augustus.
The man who had helped them.
The man who had given them the inheritance documents.
A traitor.
Then the box contained one final photograph.
Adrian.
Standing beside Camille.
And in his arms—
baby Elias.
On the back:
THE NIGHT ADRIAN TOOK HIM.
---
The Betrayal
Lucien's phone rang.
Adrian.
He answered.
"Where are you?"
Silence.
Then Adrian said:
"You're at the house."
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
"How do you know?"
"You found the box."
"Yes."
"Then you know."
"Know what?"
"That I was the one who took Elias."
Elena's eyes widened.
"Why?"
Adrian laughed softly.
"Because Augustus needed leverage."
Lucien's voice became cold.
"You killed Camille."
"No."
"Alexander said you arranged it."
"I arranged the situation."
"That's the same thing."
"No."
Adrian paused.
"I didn't pull the trigger."
"Who did?"
"Victor."
"Where is he?"
"With Alexander."
Lucien froze.
"What?"
"Your father never escaped."
Elena stared at him.
Adrian continued:
"He was captured the night he tried to expose Augustus."
"Then who's been pretending to be Alexander?"
Silence.
Lucien's blood ran cold.
"What did you say?"
Adrian's voice became almost amused.
"You've been talking to the wrong man."
The call ended.
Elena looked at Lucien.
"Alexander."
He nodded.
"That wasn't my father."
Her face went pale.
"Then who was it?"
Lucien looked at the photograph of Alexander.
And suddenly, something about the face seemed wrong.
The scar.
The eyes.
The voice.
The memory.
It didn't fit.
"Victor."
Elena whispered.
Lucien nodded slowly.
"Victor has been pretending to be Alexander."
---
Elias
Across Veyra, Elias sat in a dark room.
A man stood behind him.
Elias looked at the photograph of Elena.
"She found the house."
The man nodded.
"And Lucien?"
"He's beginning to understand."
"Good."
Elias looked at him.
"Are you sure this will work?"
The man smiled.
"It has to."
"What if she remembers everything?"
"Then she dies."
Elias's expression hardened.
"No."
The man looked at him.
"You still care about her."
"She's my sister."
"She's also the key."
Elias stood.
"I'm not letting you hurt her."
The man laughed.
"You don't have a choice."
He stepped into the light.
Elias's face changed.
"You."
The man smiled.
"Yes."
It was Adrian.
Alive.
And behind him stood another person.
A woman.
Elena's face.
Elena's eyes.
Elena's exact features.
Elias stared.
"Who is that?"
Adrian smiled.
"Your sister."
Elias looked confused.
"I already have a sister."
Adrian's smile widened.
"No."
He pointed toward the woman.
"You have two."
The woman slowly opened her eyes.
And whispered:
"Where is Elena?"
Adrian answered:
"Exactly where we need her."
Meanwhile, back at the old house, Elena found one final photograph hidden beneath the floor.
It showed her mother, Seraphina, holding her.
Beside her stood another woman.
Identical to Elena.
And written on the back were six words:
Twin girls. One was supposed to die.
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